CONVOY CAPER: 1776 Restoration Movement just put veterans’ lives in jeopardy with a vile VA stunt
The 1776 Restoration Movement, an equally misguided offshoot of the infamous “People’s Convoy,” has gone from annoying to potentially dangerous. In a move that is both sick and malicious, the anti-mandate group used the Veterans Crisis Line to demand the release of the January 6 insurrectionists jailed in the nation’s capital – tying up the line and preventing veterans from receiving the life-saving mental help they need.
BREAKING: Members of the 1776 Restoration Movement flooded the veteran suicide hotline this morning with bogus calls to release Jan 6th rioters. These are YOUR PEOPLE, @GOP
I received this message from a veteran in crisis. @DeptVetAffairs @votevets @TheJusticeDept pic.twitter.com/a17sdaRtti
— Mueller, She Wrote (@MuellerSheWrote) September 19, 2022
Walter Einenkel at the Daily Kos wrote:
“The group that purports to want to restore the United States back to 1776 decided the best way to protest the Jan. 6 participants who are still being detained and who are also veterans was to jam up the VA crisis line. The group stipulates that the many “political prisoners” in the Proud Boys, who happen to also be military veterans, are not receiving medical care in the prison.”
Combat Veteran William Attig criticized the group’s actions, tweeting:
Today these Anti-American extremist, organized a call-In action to clog the VA Suicide crisis line as a sick politician stunt.
We have over 20 veterans commit suicide a day, 1 call to that line can save a life, and these folk cared about that 0%.
Not on this Vets watch! pic.twitter.com/VFk4drohzi
— William Attig (@WillAttig) September 19, 2022
According to the 2021 National Veteran Suicide Prevention Annual Report released by the VA’s Office of Mental Health and Suicide Prevention, over 6,000 veterans died by suicide in 2019, reflecting “a suicide rate 52.3% higher than non-Veterans in the U.S.”
The Veterans Crisis Line was founded 15 years ago and fields millions of calls annually. In 2018, nearly a third of the 2 million calls placed to the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline were answered by the VCL. It is considered the largest crisis call center in the world, according to the VA’s website.
“Since its inception in 2007, VCL responders have answered more than 3.9 million calls, conducted more than 467,000 online chats and responded to more than 123,000 texts. Their efforts have resulted in the dispatch of emergency services nearly 119,000 times to Veterans in need,” the Veterans Adminstration says.
After spending months circling D.C., protesting mandates that had already been rescinded, being evicted from their home base at the Hagerstown, Maryland Speedway, and being egged, ridiculed, and humiliated, you would think the government-hating group would want to lie low.
But not unlike the rest of Trump’s MAGA supporters, common sense and human decency are in short supply among the entitled and the selfish – putting innocent people’s lives in jeopardy in the process.
Follow Ty Ross on Twitter @cooltxchick
